basic emergency vehicle operators course legal aspects...authorized emergency vehicle is subject to...

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Legal Aspects

Basic Emergency Vehicle Operators Course

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Legal Aspects

Goal:

Make emergency vehicle instructors/operators aware of the legal ramifications of driving, with special attention to tort and constitutional liability for improper actions.

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Legal Aspects

Objectives:

By the end of this module students shall;

Identify statutory laws, case law, agency policy and principles of liability governing non-emergency driving

Identify statutory law, case law, agency policy, and principles of liability governing emergency driving.

Identify constitutional law, statutory law, and case law, governing civil liability for emergency driving that “shocks the conscience” (pursuits) in its deprivations of constitutional rights.

Identify constitutional law, statutory law, case law, governing emergency driving as use of deadly force in termination pursuits

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Overview of General Rules

Unless a statutory exemption applies, an EV operator driving an

authorized emergency vehicle is subject to the same traffic laws

that govern a private citizen driving a personal vehicle.

EV operators are never exempt from all civil and criminal

law governing vehicle operation.

Even the most serious emergency does not legally excuse a

reckless disregard of the safety of others.

Emergency exemption statutes allow EV operators to

disregard some traffic laws under limited circumstances.

Failure to meet the requirements of an exemption statute

mean the operator may be subject to civil and criminal

penalties in the event of a collision.

Legal Aspects

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Emergency exemption statutes typically apply only while the

operator is responding to an emergency or enforcing the law.

Emergency exemption statues typically require operation of

warning lights and a siren at all times while the exemption is

claimed.

Emergency exemption statutes require “DUE REGARD” for

the safety of others and do not excuse reckless disregard of

the safety of others.

Legal Aspects

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Negligence is emergency vehicle driving is the failure to use

the care of a REASONABLE PERSON would use under like

circumstances.

Negligent driving may result in civil liability against the

operator, the operators supervisor and the operators

employing agency.

Willful, reckless driving causing a fatality may result in a

person’s conviction for felonious involuntary manslaughter.

Legal Aspects

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Regulations

Types of regulations to follow:

Traffic laws (host nation, state, county, city)

DoD – OPNAV – MCO – Instructions

Local base policy

Departmental policies

Standard operating procedures (SOP)

Instructor Note:

Have handouts of state law on emergency vehicle

exceptions.

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Sovereign Immunity

Provided protection for governmental agencies in the past

Now civil lawsuits are permitted under certain

circumstances

In the past

– “The King could do no wrong”

Today

– “The King shall do no wrong”

Citizens free to hold governmental agencies accountable

for their actions

Legal Aspects

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Interpreting the Law

Collisions are not accidents

Actions will be judged by others

Superiors

– Review Boards

Courts

– Trial by Judge

– Trial by Jury

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Your actions will be judged by others from two aspects:

Did a true emergency exist?

Did the operator exercise due regard?

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TRUE EMERGENCY

What is a true emergency?

True emergency

– Situation in which there is a high probability of

death or serious injury to an individual or

significant property loss, and action by an

emergency vehicle operator may reduce the

seriousness of the situation

– Exemptions are only used in a true emergency

situation. Definition is unclear. Has to be

determined by the department

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Who decides what is a true emergency?

Dispatcher - Call taker.

Nature of the call.

Supervisor

Sometimes you will make the call.

You should always ask yourself is there a high

probability of death or serious injury to an individual

or significant property loss, and action by an

emergency vehicle operator may reduce the

seriousness of the situation.

Legal Aspects

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DUE REGARD

What is DUE REGARD for the

safety of others?

An accepted definition of

DUE REGARD is:

– A reasonably careful

person. Performing

similar duties and under

similar circumstances,

would react in the same

manner

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What is DUE REGARD for the safety of others?

In judging, courts will consider:

Speed of vehicles

Traffic density

Weather conditions

Obstruction to vision

Condition of EV’s brakes,

steering, suspension etc.

Training and experience of the

EV operator

Legal Aspects

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Legal Aspects

LIABILITY

What is “LIABILITY” ?

In law a legal liability is a situation in which a person is

legally responsible, such in situations of tort concerning

property or reputation and, therefore, must pay

compensation for any damage incurred; liability may be civil

or criminal

Guidelines to use:

– Amenability or responsibility an obligation one is bound

in law to perform.

– Condition of being responsible for a possible or actual

loss, penalty, evil or expense.

– Condition which creates a duty to perform an act

immediately or in the future.

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Legal Aspects

TORT LIABILITY

• A "tort" is an injury to another person or to property, which is

compensable under the law. Categories of torts include negligence,

gross negligence, and intentional wrongdoing. Negligence is the most

common type of tort, and the only type for which the government can

be liable. To give rise to a legal claim in negligence, an act (or

inaction) must satisfy four elements:

there must be a legal duty of care to another person;

there must be a breach of that duty;

the claimant must have suffered damages, and

the damages must have been proximately caused by the breach of

duty.

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VICARIOUS LIABILITY

What is “VICARIOUS LIABILITY” ?

Under a rule of tort law called

vicarious liability, an employer is

also liable if an employee is

negligent and causes the injury

while working within the course

and scope of employment.

The imposition of liability on one

person for the actionable conduct of

another, based solely on the

relationship between the two

persons.

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RESPONSIBILTY

What is “RESPONSIBILITY” ?

Legally or ethically

accountable, answerable,

LIABLE amendable, implies

trustworthy performance of

fixed duties and consequent

awareness of the penalty for

failure to do them.

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The Federal Drivers Act

• Congress enacted the Federal Drivers Act ("Drivers Act"), 28

U.S.C. Â§ 2679(b)-(e), in 1961 to relieve government drivers

from the burden of personal liability for claims arising from

vehicular accidents occurring during their course of

employment. Unlike many employers, the United States

neither maintained liability insurance to protect its employees

nor assisted them in paying for their own insurance against

on-the-job accidents. Congress immunized individual federal

drivers from tort liability arising out of accidents caused by

their negligence. In lieu thereof, the Drivers Act limited

persons injured by federal drivers to statutory remedies

against the United States.

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U.S. Supreme Court Case – Canton v. Harris (42 U.S.C. § 1983)

Opinion of the Court:

In this case, the court was asked to determine if a municipality or

government agency can ever be liable under for constitutional violations

resulting from its failure to train their employees with adequate training

in areas integral to the scope of their duties. We hold that, under certain

circumstances, such liability is permitted by the statute.

The key word here is adequate because its meaning can take on many

interpretation, depending on who the reader is

Adequate training can also be simplistic or complex, depending on the

scope of what is being taught.

Legal Aspects

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Emergency Driving

All states give EV operators limited exemption from

certain traffic laws for emergency driving. This exemption

recognizes the social importance of rapid response.

What are these exemptions? Speed

Traffic lights

Stop Signs

Parking

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Emergency Exemption Statutes The vehicle must be an authorized emergency vehicle equipped with specified warning lights and siren.

To claim the exemption the EV must be responding to an emergency call or

suspected violator of the law

The exemption may allow the authorized EV to park or stand, exceed speed

limits, proceed past traffic signals, and stop signs, and disregard rules governing

direction of travel or turning.

The exemption applies only if required warning devices are being operated.

(both lights and siren)

The emergency exemption statues never allow the EV operator to disregard all

traffic laws or rules of the road.

Nearly all emergency exemption statutes provide for a “duty to drive with

due regard for the safety of others”.

Legal Aspects

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Agency Polices Regarding Emergency Driving Many agencies have standard policy manuals (SOP) covering emergency

and non-emergency driving.

The written policy of an agency is a statement of rules.

Some SOP’s or departmental policies have nothing to do with the rules of

law.

Speed exemption statutes prohibit unsafe speeds, but do not always

specify a maximum speed limit.

Violation of an agency or departmental policy can lead to disciplinary

action, including job loss. Even if state law is not violated.

Legal Aspects

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Agency Polices Regarding Emergency Driving Pursuit Driving – Police

Courts increasingly are finding pursuing officers civilly liable for

injuries suffered by a member of the public who is struck by either the

fleeing suspect or EV.

Courts have stated that a negligent failure to terminate a pursuit has

been deemed to be a joint cause of the collision.

Most states have felony fleeing laws now.

Department needs to have some kind of SOP’s on pursuits.

Speed exemption statutes prohibit unsafe speeds, but do not always

specify a maximum speed limit.

Legal Aspects

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Agency Polices Regarding Emergency Driving Use of Deadly Force – Police (Roadblocks, Ramming, etc)

Using a vehicle to block or ram a fleeing suspect may be deadly

force, subject to the same laws that apply to firing a gun to prevent

escape of a suspect.

Use of a roadblock or ramming may be a “seizure” subject to the

reasonableness standard under the Fourth Amendment.

The threat to the public must be extremely high and alternatives to

deadly force should be unsuccessful or clearly impractical.

Legal Aspects

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Instructor Note:

The following slides contain an example from each of

the emergency services on legal aspects. Please feel free

to update with any new or local cases that may apply.

Legal Aspects

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PENDING (Los Angeles, CA - Fire Dept. – May 5, 2005)

A city fire truck collided with two other vehicles in the

North University Park area near USC, killing a woman and

leaving seven others with “moderate to serious” injuries”.

Deputy Fire Chief Andy Fox said the truck was one of two

units en-route to a structure fire, with full emergency lights

and siren operating, when the crash occurred. The result of

the crash was eight injuries and one deceased civilian, four

firefighters received injuries, one serious, three minor.

There were four other civilian injuries, two serious and two

minor.

Legal Aspects


Case History

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Case History

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Discussion Slide Due Regard

True Emergency


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Case History

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Court Verdict:

How do you think the jury will rule?


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Case History

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CASE HISTORY (DoD Police Crash – Washington, DC. – May 28, 2010 @ 0924 hrs)

A Naval Dist. Wash. DoD Police unit was responding to a (self

initiated) call for service on a medical emergency. The unit was

responding with emergency lights and siren activated from Bellevue

housing area Anacostia Navy Annex en-route to Bolling Air Force

Base. The PD unit exited the Bellevue gate onto I295 north and exited

at Malcom X Ave to enter the Arnold gate at Bolling AFB. At the

intersection with South Capital St SE the DoD police unit went

through the first intersection and as it was negotiating the second

intersection and was struck by a vehicle in the south bound lanes,

resulting in a three vehicle crash. The result of the crash were three

injuries.

Legal Aspects


Case History

Point where PD unit

exited Navy Annex

Point where PD unit

was involved in crash

Legal Aspects


Case History

PENDING – The Intersection

(OVERHEAD VIEW) (DoD Police Crash – Washington, DC. – May 28, 2010)

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Legal Aspects


Case History

PENDING – The Intersection (DoD Police Crash – Washington, DC. – May 28, 2010)

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True Emergency

Legal Aspects


Case History

PENDING (DoD Police Crash – Washington, DC. – May 28, 2010)

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Update 3/2011

NDW Officer was removed from service

Civil Lawsuit Pending

Officer appealing job action to MSPB (Merit Systems Protection Board)

Legal Aspects


Case History

PENDING (DoD Police Crash – Washington, DC. – May 28, 2010)

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Ambulance Crash (Virginia Beach, VA - EMS Dept. – April 11, 2005)

A Plaza Volunteer Rescue Squad was responding to a call

when the ambulance collided with a Mercedes at the

intersection. The car was dragged nearly 50 feet and the

driver of the vehicle a 34 year old male was killed. The

ambulance was responding to an emergency call and had a

red light at the intersection. There are conflicting reports

on whether its lights and siren were on.

Legal Aspects


Case History

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Case History

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True Emergency


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Case History

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Update: (June 9, 2005)

Grand Jury returns indictment against driver for

involuntary manslaughter and reckless driving.


Update: (August 9, 2006)

Ambulance driver pleads guilty, to Reckless Driving.

Circuit Court gave six month jail sentence and two years

probation. Ordered not to drive an ambulance for two years.

Legal Aspects


Case History

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Ambulance driver gets 2 years of probation in deadly crash

By DUANE BOURNE, The Virginian-Pilot © August 9, 2006 | Last updated 9:42 PM Aug. 8

VIRGINIA BEACH - An ambulance driver accused of driving through a red light and killing a motorist

last year pleaded guilty Tuesday to reckless driving.

Jason Frye, now 21, entered an Alford plea, acknowledging that there was enough evidence to

convict him, but without admitting he committed the crime.

Prosecutors agreed to drop the original charge of involuntary manslaughter and reduce the traffic

offense to reckless driving while exceeding the speed limit.

Circuit Judge Thomas Shadrick gave Frye a six-month suspended jail sentence and two years of

probation. Frye also was ordered not to drive an ambulance for two years.

Jason Frye

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Case History

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Virginia Beach pays $825,000

Legal Aspects


Case History

Beach to pay $825,000 to settle lawsuit over ambulance crash By DUANE BOURNE, The

Virginian-Pilot

© March 27, 2007 | Last updated 11:14 PM Mar. 26

VIRGINIA BEACH - The estate of a 34-year-old man killed in 2005 when his car was hit by an

ambulance has settled a lawsuit with the city for $825,000.

The wrongful death suit, which originally sought $10 million in damages, was settled in

mediation last month after the criminal case against the ambulance driver, Jason Frye, concluded.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.geomapgis.ca/website/Images/news/seal.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.geomapgis.ca/website/en/news/pressreleases.htm&h=600&w=599&sz=95&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=hrNUDo_tkKXO9M:&tbnh=135&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dvirginia%2Bbeach%2Bcity%2Bseal%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

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Instructor Note:

The following slide contains recent news stories

of emergency vehicles' involved in motor

vehicle crashes. Update as necessary with

recent news stories, or incidents you are

familiar with that deal with an emergency

response mishap/crash.

Legal Aspects

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Legal Aspects – Current News Items

January 07, 2014

Person Injured in Woodland Hills in Crash with LAFD Fire Truck

Los Angeles, CA – An accident involving a fire truck in Woodland Hills Tuesday left a person injured. The accident in the 20900 block

of Ventura Boulevard occurred about 12:40 p.m., said Brian Humphrey of the fire department.

Humphrey had no immediate information on how the accident occurred, but he did say the fire truck was responding to an emergency.

He described the injured person as a civilian.

Jan 28, 2014

Beverly cop injured after three-car crash

BEVERLY, Mass. A three-car crash in Beverly sent a police officer and another person to the hospital Tuesday. The crash happened

around 2:20 p.m. at the intersection of Elliott and Rantoul streets in Beverly. Three cars, including a cruiser, were involved. The

officer, Joshua Pickett, was responding to an alarm call and had the cruiser's lights and siren on.

The fire department used the Jaws of Life to get Pickett out of the cruiser after the crash. Pickett and a female operator were

transported to Beverly Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

January 30, 2014

Ambulance involved in crash, 1 person dead

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - Officials say an ambulance was transporting one person to the hospital when it was T-boned by another vehicle.

The crash occurred at 11th and Senate Thursday afternoon.

At the time of the crash, the ambulance was transporting one person in cardiac arrest to the hospital. That patient did not survive.

Officials report the patient in cardiac arrest received care throughout the incident.

Officials say two firefighters, one medic, and one EMT were injured in the crash. Their injuries were not life-threatening, but they were

transported to Methodist Hospital. The driver of the SUV that hit the ambulance was checked out on scene. They were not transported

to the hospital.

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Summary

All traffic laws that govern the general public apply

with equal force to on-duty operators in non-

emergency driving.

NO STATE gives its EV operators authority to

disregard all traffic laws in performing emergency

services.

Exemptions made in the statutes refer to EV only

while it is operated in the emergency mode.

No matter what the exemption you can still be held

criminally and/or civilly liable for your actions.

Legal Aspects

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REVIEW QUESTIONS

1) Typically when do exemption statutes apply?

2) Define a “True Emergency”?

3) What does the term “Vicarious Liability” mean?

4) Define “Due Regard”?

5) Give an example of an authorized traffic exemption while

responding with lights and siren?

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